Stanley, Gale - Hellfire [Southwest Shifters 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (3 page)

Kate nodded agreeably but didn’t commit. She had no intention of meeting Gage, and somehow she would talk Shi out of seeing him, too.

“There you are.” Another rugged giant with gold eyes appeared, a bottle of beer in each hand. “I thought you ran out on me, but I’ll forgive you because you’re going to introduce me to Shiloh Ford.” The newcomer glanced at Kate curiously then turned his attention to Shi.

Overwhelmed by their physical presence, Kate could only stare. She hadn’t seen another Lycan for sixteen years, and now suddenly there were two standing in front of her. They were breathtaking, more attractive than any men had a right to be. Similar in height and build, Gage sported long black hair held by a leather band at his nape, while the new man had chestnut hair cut in a shorter, shaggy style that brushed the collar of his shirt.
Shiloh
looked like he’d died and gone to heaven. He was already reaching for the other man’s hand.

“Tanner.” He handed the beers to Gage and shook
Shiloh
’s hand.

“Great to meet you,” Shi told him. “And this is my fiancée, Kate.”

A flicker of disappointment flashed in Tanner’s eyes. Then he took Kate’s hand, and it turned to heated recognition. It seemed these men were attracted by both sexes. It would be better if they only wanted Shi.

Gage was speaking to Tanner. “
Shiloh
and Kate are meeting us tomorrow for drinks.”

“Excellent!” Tanner smiled broadly. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Kate wished she could say the same.

Chapter Three

Tanner forgot to duck as he walked through the door of their small house.
Fuck!
Rubbing his forehead, he called back to Gage, “Watch your head.”

They hadn’t gotten around to enlarging the front door yet. It involved calculating the amount of room from the top of the frame to the ceiling, and the weight bearing down from the second floor. Construction was not his thing. Gage wasn’t much better. They had opted to concentrate their combined efforts on the important rooms first, bathroom and kitchen, and they had only just completed them.

When the pack first settled in
New Mexico
, they had lived in abandoned pueblos, communal housing consisting of flat-topped buildings with a lot of rooms. Eventually humans discovered the adobe dwellings, and the remote area had become a popular tourist attraction. Their home received too much unwanted attention, and the Lycans were afraid to shift.
Many predators made their home in the
Gila
Forest
: bobcats, cougars, bear, and fox among them, but very few wolves. They were an endangered species. Reintroduced in the eighties, most of them had been killed.
The big, bad wolf,
Tanner thought ruefully.
We’re not the cold-blooded killers of fairy tales and folklore, but we always get the bad rap.
Even being seen in human form caused problems. The tourists would want to know why people were living without the basic amenities.

The Alpha started looking around for new living quarters. Alex had made contacts in
New Mexico
, and he didn’t want to leave the area. Deciding to hide in plain sight, he looked for an area where their people could be seen but blend in enough that they wouldn’t look suspicious.

Alex had been so excited when he found the old mining town south of
Silver
City
. Gage and Tanner went back with him for a look, and they’d both had the same reaction.
No way!

Right off the bat, a gun-toting local came out to greet them, and Tanner wanted to turn tail and run. Alex had convinced them to at least check the place out. The pit stop didn’t have much to recommend it. Unimpressed with the town’s run-down buildings, creaky swinging gates, and unfriendly residents, they tried to dissuade Alex, but he stayed firm.

Their Alpha had turned on the charm and had the welcoming committee eating out of his hand. The few residents who were left, old-timers who didn’t have the means to move on, liked the Alpha’s plans. He’d promised them food, alcohol, and tobacco, and they promised him a live-and-let-live attitude.

Once the pack moved in, they started helping the residents with repairs on their ramshackle homes. It meant the Lycans had less time to work on their own houses, but it was worth it to keep their neighbors happy. The old-timers minded their own business and discouraged outsiders. It was a win-win situation. Alex had been right all along, but then that’s why he was Alpha.

* * * *

Gage came through the door laughing and tackled Tanner.

“Hey. Be careful. I might have a concussion.”

“Poor baby, let me kiss it and make it better.”

“You can kiss my ass.”

“Now there’s an idea.”

Tanner laughed. “Glad to see you’re in a good mood. So I guess you’re not sorry you let me drag you to the rodeo?”

“Hell no. That little she-wolf is going to make an excellent addition to our pack.” Gage planted a blistering kiss on his lover’s mouth.

Tanner came up for air. “Whew, did I inspire that, or was it the little filly?”

Gage hesitated, and his face flushed scarlet. He felt a little embarrassed to let on that the cowboy had played a part in his good mood, too.

“You’re kidding, right?” Tanner’s mouth fell open. “It’s
Shiloh
, isn’t it? You got a hard-on for my cowboy.”

“Your cowboy?” Gage snorted. “And here I thought you were jealous of me.”

Tanner gave him a sheepish look. “Hey, I’m not jealous of anybody. Just surprised. I didn’t think he was your type.”

“Neither did I, but that’s one cowboy I wouldn’t mind riding. Seriously, I don’t know who I was more attracted to, him or the woman. I was actually fantasizing about a quad. The fearless foursome.”

“Hmm.” Tanner’s brows shot up.

“Now don’t get all excited. It’s just a fantasy. The last thing we need is a human lover.”

“Then why are we meeting them tomorrow?” Tanner definitely sounded disappointed.

“We need to make contact with the woman, and it’s obvious she’s nervous. She’ll be more comfortable with
Shiloh
around. You can distract the cowboy, and I’ll try to talk to her.”

Tanner grinned broadly. “Tsk, tsk. The things I have to do for the pack.”

Gage chuckled. “Yeah, I can see how reluctant you are.”

“Talking about reluctant, I wonder why the female is so jittery.”

Gage turned serious. “She was definitely aroused but trying to hide it. I don’t think she’s been around her own kind for a long time.”

“Do you think
Shiloh
knows? That she’s not like him, I mean.”

“Hard to say.” Gage thought about it. “She could be keeping her ancestry a secret, and I wouldn’t blame her one bit after what our people have been through, but she’d have to deny her wolf. That’s not easy.”

“Maybe we should talk to the Alpha before we do anything. Alex will know how to handle her.”

“No!” Gage growled.

Tanner looked up, surprised.

“I don’t want anybody
handling
her.”

“You think you can do better than the Alpha?”

Gage took a calming breath. “It’s been a long time since I wanted a woman, the Alpha’s matchmaking notwithstanding.”

“Agreed.” Tanner nodded. “Matchmaking for breeding purposes doesn’t count. That’s just doing what you got to do for the good of the pack.”

“But that little female got me hard just looking at her. It surprised the hell out of me.” Gage didn’t have much experience with women. He had been a kid of thirteen when he lost his family. It all started when the Lycan elders gave one of their women permission to marry a human man and live with him in their secret community in the
Pine Barrens
. Others had chosen to leave the pack and hide their identities so they could live in the outside world with human lovers. The elders didn’t want to lose any more of their people, and they had made a bad decision.

When the marriage failed, the human man betrayed his wife and her people and came back with other men to burn down their homes. The Lycans shifted to their wolf forms and tried to escape, but the majority of their people died. Most humans didn’t suspect the burnt carcasses weren’t ordinary wolves.
Forest
fires were common in the Barrens, and humans didn’t cry over dead wolves. The survivors, a small group of shell-shocked youngsters, were afraid to stay and rebuild.

Alex, the oldest, became their leader. One day he’d celebrated his twenty-first birthday with a wife and child. The next he was a young and inexperienced Alpha leading a group of younger men and a few females halfway across the country. Alex chose
New Mexico
, home of their gods, the kachinas, powerful spirit beings who, if given proper veneration and respect, would provide and protect. The Lycans believed their very beginnings went back to Kweo, the wolf spirit, who had mated with a human woman and brought forth the first wolf-shifter.

Somewhere along the way, the Lycans had displeased Kweo, and he had deserted them in their time of need. Since the great fire, they’d been trying to repopulate, and it just wasn’t happening—until pack members Noah and Wade took a human woman as their mate. She became pregnant, and Gage suspected Kweo had had a hand in it, wanting the two species, Lycans and humans, to become one. Perhaps Kweo had even sent them the she-wolf.

“Earth to Gage.” Tanner gave him a little shake. “So why don’t you want to tell Alex?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to tell him.” Gage sighed. “I just don’t want him passing Kate around the pack with the hope of getting her pregnant. I found her. She’s mine.” The words just popped out, but Gage felt right about them.

Tanner’s jaw dropped, along with the rest of his face. “Do you think you found your mate?”

The hurt look on Tanner’s face made his heart twist. Supposedly a Lycan knew when he found his true mate, something about matching hormones and body chemistry, ripe for reproduction. “Our mate.” Reproduction aside, he loved Tanner, and he wouldn’t let anything or anyone affect their relationship. “We’re in this together or not at all. Whatever this feeling is—love or just making pups—it’s not going to come between us.” This feeling he had for the female seemed strong but different. Maybe all the old Lycan traditions hadn’t disappeared with their people. “We need some time to figure things out. Let’s keep this to ourselves, just for a little while.”

Tanner still didn’t look convinced. “I don’t think it’s a good idea. Alex won’t be happy if he finds out we kept it from him.”

“Fuck! Does Alex have to know every damn move we make?”

Tanner didn’t say a word, and that was answer enough for him. His face heated, and he stormed out of the living room, not really knowing why he felt so angry. He needed some alone time to cool off and let his wolf settle. Maybe a shower would help.

Gage closed his eyes, leaned his head back, and let the warm water wash away his tension along with the sweat. He wasn’t really angry with Tanner. He just felt at odds. Meeting this woman had brought everything back, memories of all he had lost. Right now, he wanted to wipe his mind clean, as well as his body. Or try to, anyway. There’d be time enough to think and talk about the past tomorrow night, when he and Tanner would meet the she-wolf and her cowboy for drinks. Gage reached for the shampoo, poured some in his palm, and lathered his hair. Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t hear the shower door open.

* * * *

Tanner followed the sound of running water to the bathroom. They had opted to build a shower for two, and Gage must have turned on both jets. Steam poured through the open door in a warm, silent invitation, and he accepted it. His lover’s body outlined through the smoky glass of the shower proved a potent allure, and hoping to surprise him, he slipped inside and wrapped his arms around Gage in one quick motion. Gage jumped, obviously startled, but then he relaxed back into Tanner’s arms.

“I was hoping you’d join me.” Gage’s voice was still tight with tension.

“I almost didn’t. You were so angry, I thought maybe you needed some time alone.”

“I think I’m more upset with myself than anything. Old memories…”

“I know, baby,” Tanner murmured, working the shampoo through the long hair he loved so much. “Seeing the she-wolf brought it all back for me, too.” He rinsed Gage’s hair and brushed his lips over a broad shoulder. “You’re not the only one who feels something for Kate—and
Shiloh
. I don’t know what it means, but I do know we need to find out for ourselves, and you’re right about the Alpha. He’ll put things in his own perspective and do what he thinks is good for the pack, not for us, or for Kate. As far as I’m concerned, the she-wolf and her cowboy are our little secret, at least until tomorrow night when we get a better idea what’s going on.”

Gage sighed with relief. “Thanks, I feel better knowing you’re with me on this.” He rolled his neck. Bones cracked and popped.

“Thank me later after I loosen up all that tension in your muscles.”

“You just want to get your hands on me.”

“Is that a problem?”

“Hell no.”